Two recent school celebrations, Global School Play Day and Friendship Day, gave East Street School preschool teachers, Kimberly Carver and Samantha Fahey the opportunity to plan lessons focusing on friendship. The goal was to facilitate positive social interaction between the two classes.

On Global School Play Day, both classes focused on making new friends. “We taught the students how to introduce themselves to classmates, respond to an introduction and ask a peer to play,” explained Carver. “Some students were also given opportunities to practice joining an already established group.Watching students invite a new friend to play with them at an activity center- blocks, pegs, potato heads - was heartwarming.”

While students played cooperatively a large heart was created by the classes with the theme from a poem - Make new friends, keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. When the friendship heart was completed students took turns placing a gold and silver hand onto the heart. The heart was then hung in the hallway for others to see.

“We felt the heart was a way to represent the two classes and how we joined together, in friendship,” shared Fahey.

Fahey went on to explain that each class spent time preparing for Friendship Day by creating mini friend files to tell some fun facts about themselves. Some of the information found in the files included their favorite food, sport, tv show, and favorite thing to play with.

“It was our hope that the friend files would encourage communication between students and allow students to learn and recall personal information about their classmates,” said Fahey.

Students also chose a peer from the partner class and created a special valentine for their new friend; delivering it on Friendship Day. According to Carver students were not only very excited to pass out their cards, but were also just as excited to receive a card from their new friend, which was evident by their smiling faces.

“We believe that combining our classes made a significant impact on our students social learning,” shared Carver. “They are now waving to each other in the hall, smiling at one another, and genuinely excited to see one another.”

“Our hope is to continue co-teaching and collaborating for future lessons that encourage positive peer relationships between our students,” continued Carver. “Developing strong social skills at the preschool level, helps to promote a positive learning climate for all students and teaches important life skills.”

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